Abstract:  Direct imaging of exoplanets has rapidly matured and is now providing invaluable data that is highly complementary to other planet detection and characterization techniques. In this talk, I will discuss two direct imaging projects currently being worked on at the Space Imaging and Optical Systems Lab at Cornell University: the upgrade of the Gemini Planet Imager (GPI 2.0), and our work on the Wide Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST) Coronagraphic Instrument (CGI).   GPI, a facility instrument at the Gemini South observatory, is one of the world's most advanced extreme adaptive optics coronagraphy systems, capable of spectral-polarimetric imaging of young, giant, self-luminous planets in the near-IR.  Over the next two years, a large, multidisciplinary group at institutions spanning the US and Canada will work to make GPI even more sensitive and efficient, after which it will be re-commissioned at Gemini North as GPI 2.0.  The WFIRST CGI will be the first dedicated exoplanet coronagraph on a space mission, scheduled to launch in the mid 2020s.  It will initially operate as a technology demonstration, which, if successful, will be followed by a participating scientist program.  Here, I will discuss my group's work on the modeling and optimization of exoplanet imaging space missions in general, and CGI in particular.

Host:  Jason Wright